The Mafia QUEEN

THREE

2 hours before the Rooftop Scene

MARCO'S POV

"Isang taon na lang mga dude at malaya na tayo!" that's Derrick, just don't mind him. Yung pinagsasabi niya na malaya na kami? Don't think as if we're prisons in jail, what he meant is about school. Yes, at isang taon na lang at makakagraduate na kami. 

Sobrang bilis talaga ng panahon, parang kailan lang yung graduation namin sa high school katpos ngayon, isang school year na lang at matatapos na namin 'tong college.

"Ahm, naririnig niyo ba ako? Kanina lang ako nagsasalita dito," Derrick again. I know, I know madaldal talaga siya. Sa aming tatlo, siya ang pinakamaingay, hindi niya magawang tumahimik ng ilang minuto. Magsasalita at magsasalita talaga 'yan kung gusto niya.

"Eh ang boses mo kaya ang nag uumapaw sa silid na'to," well, that's Karch, who was busy scanning on Derrick's DSLR camera. Derrick is a photographer, and he really did a great shot. Passion na niya ang kumuha ng mga litrato mula nung mga bata pa kami.

I moved closer to Karch so that I could take a look at what's his scanning. Maybe it's full of naked bodies of some Derrick's girls, he's a playboy by the way. And hey! It's not what you think that I want to take a look at some of his whores. Curious lang ako kasi seryosong-seryoso si Karch sa pag s-scan ng camera niya.

And I'm not wrong because it's really full of girls, but the good thing is they're not naked. Well almost.

"Derrick seriously? Your camera is full of naked girls! Tss," Karch on other hand is the total complete opposite of Derrick. He's a gentleman and doesn't play with girls. Sobrang seryoso niya pagdating sa pag-ibig. To think that he only has one girlfriend in his life and they lasted for 5 years, but the girl cheated on him. That's why they broke up.

"Get this man, I'm no longer wanted to look at those," he said then handed me the camera and walked away. See? Hindi niya kaya matitiis na tignan ang mga babaeng halos hubo't-hubad na kaya ako nalang ang tumapos. Looks like Derrick is enjoying this party because of these girls, well that's his happiness. Maybe it'll be a miracle if Derrick's gonna have a serious relationship.

I stopped scanning when I saw a familiar photo of a girl and If I'm not mistaken, she's the girl I saw in the club the other night. 

 I was really amazed because of her beautiful mesmerizing green eyes. That can bring you to another dimension if you kept on staring at her. Oh, I remember her eyes again. 

Sa tuwing maiisip ko 'yon, lalo tuloy akong naiintriga sa kanya kahit hindi ko siya kilala. I even cursed myself several times that night for not making a move to ask even for her name.

She's more like a goddess in my eyes. Kahit madilim non sa bar at tanging led lights lang ang nagsisilbing ilaw sa buong lugar, hindi talaga maitatago ang angkin niyang kagandahan.

"Derrick, where did you get this photo?" I asked and walk towards him na sobrang busy sa pagta-type sa laptop niya.

"Oh! I got it when I visited my grandpa at the cemetery. Bakit mo na itanong?" sambit niya habang naka kunot ang kanyang noo. What is he thinking? I think I need to tell him that this girl and the girl that I kept on talking to them are one. But what is she doing in the cemetery?

Tanga ka ba Nick? Obviously, she's visiting someone who's closed to her or maybe her relative.

*clears throat*

"Remember the girl I kept on talking to you last day?"

"You mean the girl you saw at the club? That catches your attention, and got mesmerizing green eyes?"

"Yep, the girl that I saw in the club, and the girl that you took some stolen pictures are ONE. This is the girl," sabi ko habang nakaturo sa camera.

His eyes started to widen because of what I said, and he looks stupid because his mouth was shaped as 'O'.

"Oh!! Hey Karch! I think Nick is IN LOVE!!!" What the fck? Seriously? Ang bakla niya! I didn't expect that he's going to say that. This man is unbelievable. 

"I already knew about that Derrick, no need to shout," at sumag-ayon pa talaga ang gago. I thought he's different, bakit nagpapauto siya sa mga sinasabi ng lalakeng toh? I'm not in love for Pete's sake! Nagagandahan lang ako sa kanya, in love agad?!

"Huy! Hindi ako in love! I just found out that she's attractive and... and... beautiful. Yun lang! okay?" Yes yun lang talaga, pero bakit parang ang defensive pakinggan? Pucha baka iba pa ang isipin ng dalawan 'to. Mapang-asar pa naman sila, walang mapipili.

"Tsk, Nick dun din ang punta niyan. Una magagandahan ka sa kanya syempre. Pangalawa you'll get to know each other, and maybe confess your feelings. At ang pangatlo? Boom! Kayo na!" pinagsasabi neto? At may steps-steps pa siyang nalalaman diyan. Hindi ako mananalo sa mga kagaguhan neto. So just give him his camera back and walk towards the door. I want to get out of here, they're just pissing me off.

"Huy! San ka pupunta? Malayo pa ang next class natin ah," I didn't mind what Derrick says and continued walking until I reached the knob of the door and go outside. I left the two inside the room. That room is exclusively only for us, kung baga tambayan namin kung may free time, I really asked dad for that, and it's a good thing he agreed. He is the president of this school which is East Neumann University. He also has the West, North, and South Neumann University Campuses.

Because they're pissing me off earlier, my feet brought me to the rooftop of one of the buildings here. Konti nalang ang nakikita kong mga estudyante sa labas, siguro nag-uumpisa na ang mga klase ng ilan. 

As I enter the rooftop, a warm breeze touches my skin. 

I walk towards the only bench on this rooftop, but I suddenly stopped when I saw a girl laying comfortably on the bench, where some strands of her hair covered her face.Nilapit ko ang mukha ko sa kanya para mas makita ko siya. I also moved some strands of her hair gently, para hindi siya magising.  As I completely removed some strands, I can't help but stare at her face.

She's very beautiful

Yeah she is, she really does... Wait, this is the girl that I saw at the bar. She moved and gently open her eyes, I was ready to look at her mesmerizing green eyes again, but it wasn't. Instead, it's brown, she got chocolate brown eyes. Nagulat siya ng makita niya ako, so she automatically pushes me hard, pero ba't ang lakas niya? Because of the impact, na out of balance ako and my butt really hit the ground. Pota ang sakit.

"Aww... Ang sakit nun ha?" I said, ang sakit talaga. Masyadong malakas ang impact ng pagtulak niya sa'kin. Bihira lang ang babaeng may ganong lakas para maitulak ako ng ganon-ganon lang. 

"Ano ba kasi ang ginagawa mo?!" she already yelled, kaya tumingin na ako sa kanya. She's pissed, yeah I can saw it by her facial expressions. Ahm, what am I gonna tell her? That I was just staring at her face? 

"Woah, relax. Wala naman akong balak na gawin sa'yo. I'm just checking on you, kasi parang hindi ka na humihinga" I explained, please maniwala ka. 

Seriously Nick? Checking on her if she was still breathing? Ano ka doktor? 

She just stares at me, like she was examining my face, I don't know but I feel like I'm not comfortable with her stare. Pero buti nalang kaya ko pa rin siyang titigan but I'm still disappointed that she got a chocolate brown eyes. Maybe she got a twin sister and they had a different color of eyes, or maybe she's just wearing a green-colored contact lens on the day she got to the bar.

Pero parang imposibleng contact lens lang yun. Parang totoo talaga yung berdeng mata niya, It wasn't a contact lens right? O baka guni-guni ko lang yun na berde ang mata niya nung araw dun sa bar, maybe it was just because of the disco light that causes her eyes to become color green. Or maybe I was just really drunk that time, at kung ano-ano na lang ang iniisip na berde ang mata niya. Tss

Agad akong umiwas sa mga titig niya instead, I looked to the other side of this rooftop.

"Ahm... what are you doing here?" hindi ko na naiwasang magtanong pero hindi parin ako tumitingin sa kanya. Hindi naman maitago sa aking boses ang pagkadismayado sa nakita ko. Siguro sobrang eager ko lang na makita ang mga berde niyang mata pero kahit na ganon, masaya ako at nakita ko siya ngayon.

Maybe it was destined for us to meet each other there.

I shrugged my thoughts away for what I just thought. At kailan pa ako naniniwala sa tadhana?

"It's none of your business Mr???" she said, she seems like a cold girl. So she doesn't know me? 

Nick sira ka ba? Nagtatanong na nga, eh malamang hindi ka niya kilala.

Oo nga noh? Ngayon ko lang din siya nakita eh malamang transferee. Sa ganda niya di ko siya mapapansin? Kaya transferee talaga toh. I looked at her with a little smile plastered in my face.

"Neumann, Nick Marco Neumann," I said. Maybe she already thought that my surname is familiar, well my dad is the owner of this school. Just my dad, not me. Then I extended my arms para makipagkamay sa kanya. 

"And you are Ms.???" I asked with a hint of curiosity in my voice.

"Mercalli, Rose Meredith Mercalli," she said and accepted my hands. She got smooth and soft hands. She also had a beautiful name too, Rose Meredith. It really suits her.

"Nice to meet you Meredith," I said while smiling, it was really nice to know a beautiful girl like her. Maybe it's the first time that I'll thank Derrick for pissing me off, kasi kung hindi dahil sa kanya hindi ako mapupunta rito at makilala ang babaeng to ng harap-harapan.

I will definitely treat that man after this.

"Nice to meet you too Marco," she called me at my second name? She's the second person who calls me that name. And the first person was my mother at miss ko na siya. Kaya mas lumapad ang ngiti ko.

She automatically looked at her wristwatch, and looked surprise. Agad naman siyang tumayo at tumakbo papunta sa pintuan ng rooftop.

"Wait teka, Meredith. San ka pupunta?" I immediately asked. Parang ayoko muna siyang umalis at lumabas sa pintong 'yan. I want to know her more, I want to talk to her for more than a minute. 

"Male-late na'ko okay?" Oh! I see, ang himbing kaya nang tulog niya kanina, kaya siguro nakalimutan niyang may klase pa pala siya. 

"Ahm.... See you around?" I just asked out of nowhere, seriously? Baka nakakahalata na siya. Nakakahiya! Agad naman siyang huminto at tumingin sa direksyon ko, it took seconds, and then she smirked.

Bigla akong napalunok sa ginawa niya. That smirk of hers is just hot. I don't know if she's seducing me because it's really effective, I mean she turned me on with just a simple smirk. 

Ibang klase... 

"See you around Marco," she said, at lumabas na sa rooftop. And just like that, she left me greatly astonished. Yup, that's it! I must see you around on the campus.

Napasuntok ako sa hangin ng tuluyan na siyang nakalabas. Hindi ko maiwasang mapangisi sa nangyari ngayon lang. Damn! It's been a long time since a smile like this, yung tipong abot hanggang tainga ang ngiti. 

Napakagat ako ng labi atsaka nagpasuntok-suntok sa hangin habang sumisigaw.

Nanlaki ang aking mga mata ng mapagtanto ko kung ang ang ginagawa ko. Pucha! Ang bakla!

I managed to get back to my normal state and inhaled deeply before slapping my face.

"Pull yourself together, Neumann," bulong ko atsaka tumingala sa langit.